Guinard Energies – 24/09/2019

One year of operation for the installation of Ambatoloana

A first in Madagascar

On September 20, 2018, the Guinard Energies engineering team connected the village of Ambatoloana to the hydro-electric and photovoltaic 100% autonomous and decarbonated hybrid installation.

For a year, the 250 inhabitants of the small Malagasy village are connected to this micro-grid and thus benefit from clean and reliable electricity.

It is in the evening, at nightfall, that the supply of electricity is most visible. Little by little light bulbs come on in the small houses and at the time when the activity stopped to give place to the silence, today the life continues in the evening, the schoolchildren can thus study, the grocery stores remain open later.

This project funded by Ademe International and rich in a partnership with the NGO Gret proves to be a great success and shows that today, the contribution of tidal turbine in off-grid facilities has a real interest as explained by Flavien, an engineer at Guinard Energies: "Off-grid 100% photovoltaic installations are common in Madagascar, but this configuration requires a large storage tank to cope with the night phase. regulated channel will operate 24/24 which in addition to the additional production input will also reduce the battery, it is the real interest of multi-energy hybrid systems that we offer "

After one year of operation, for Fetra, project manager at the NGO Gret, no hazards are to be reported and the system works very well, followed and maintained by Fidèle, a resident of the village: "In terms of exploitation, one person from the village formed by Guinard Energies on the technique and the operator on the management is enough to manage the tidal stream Ambatolaona, which proves its simplicity of operation, which is never the case in off-grid installations In Madagascar, this technology not only electrifies all households in the village, which is already a goal, but its robustness also allows for the multiplication of income-generating activities. "

Currently, Guinard Energies and GRET are working on new rural electrification projects in Madagascar. Several sites have been appraised and technical studies are underway to deploy similar systems in more than a dozen villages.